ABSTRACT
At about ten o’clock the Jumbotrons began showing the performers on stage at the Inauguration. This took the minds of everyone standing in that cold Januarymorning off the bitter windwhipping through the crowd.My 14-yearold had been standing, waiting since seven a.m., as dawn slowly crept over the horizon. For the people on the Mall something unique was taking place. That day America’s first Black president was going to be sworn into office. The narratives of those in attendance echoed one another as they described the unprecedented sense of shared joy and the civility that came from a common sense of satisfaction and success. Everyone was happy; of the huge crowd attending the event, not a single person was arrested. This is an unusual story in today’s America. What happened to race politics on that day?
